Gluten free diet loved by Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Miley Cyrus, could make you fat

The celebrity diet that could make you fat: Gluten free diet loved by Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Miley Cyrus is crammed with calories

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UPDATED:

15:27 GMT, 29 October 2012

Whippet thin Victoria Beckham is said to maintain her trim figure by sticking to a strict gluten-free diet.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Miley Cyrus are also fans of the wheat-free way which means no bread, pizza, pasta or cakes.

But a new study shows that slimmers choosing gluten-free food could be filling up on fat instead.

Miley Cyrus puts her new super slimline figure down to exercise and a gluten-free diet

Eating gluten-free is a must for
anyone suffering from coeliac disease but thanks to its celebrity
following it has become more and more popular for people wanting to lose
weight and improve their health.

Miley Cyrus is a huge advocate of the
eating plan recently tweeting about the effects on her figure as she
defended herself against comments that she had an eating disorder.

Miley tweeted: 'For everyone calling
me anorexic, I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It's not about weight
it's about health. Gluten is [email protected] anyway!'

She also told fans: 'Everyone
should try no gluten for a week. The change in your skin, physical and
mental health is amazing.'

Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham are also fans of the wheat-free way, but the gluten-free substitute foods available can contain up to five times more fat than regular foods

In response to demand from shoppers
most British supermarkets now offer a range of gluten-free products but the
new research has highlighted that these foods are often substituting
gluten for fat, and can contain up to five times the amount of fat as
their non gluten alternatives.

A
Love Life wheat-free loaf at Waitrose contains three grams of fat,
Marks & Spencer's wheat-free bread contains almost three times more
fat than the regular version and Sainsbury's FreeFrom pitta bread has
almost five times as much fat as the store's standard pitta bread.

Food expert Tanya Thomas of the
British Dietetic Association said: 'People assume that by cutting out
gluten they are going to lose weight, it's a myth.'

And Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK, which represents people with a coeliac an autoimmune disease, admits that the industry has a problem with higher fat in gluten-free bread and bakery products.

She said: 'Undoubtedly there has been a rise n diagnoses of coeliac disease, but it can't explain the explosion in gluten-free products.

'Many people are choosing to go gluten-free because they simply want to reduce their wheat intake.'

QUICK FACTS ON COELIAC & GLUTEN from Coeliac UK

WHAT IS COELIAC DISEASE

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune
disease. Gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye triggers an
immune reaction in people with coeliac disease. This means that eating
gluten damages the lining of the small intestine. Other parts of the
body may be affected.

WHAT IS GLUTEN

Gluten is a protein found in the cereals wheat, rye and barley. Some people react to a similar protein found in oats.

WHERE IS GLUTEN FOUND

The most obvious sources of gluten in the diet are bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, flour, pizza bases, cakes and biscuits. Gluten can also be found in foods such as soups, sauces, ready meals and processed foods such as sausages.